Decorticating-machine.



No. 796,453. PATENTED AUG. 8 1905. G. H. ROEDER, DECD.

0. K. BOB-DEE, ADMINISTEATRIX.

DEGORTIGATING MACHINE.

APPLIOATIOI LIILED MAB. 3, 1903. RENEWED DEG. 17,1904.

3 SHEETS-SHEET l.

lf/VE'SSES AUOR/VEYS No. 796,453. PATBNTED AUG. 8, 1905.

G.H.'ROEDER, DBCD. 0. x. 302mm, ADMIHISTBATRIK. DBOORTIOATING MACHINE.Arrmoumx nun mm. 3. 190a. nnwnn nno. 17.1904.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

l f xr //////////fi\\ \& 4

ATTORNEYS m. 1. man co. rmwmvmamns. WASHIIGYON. n. c.

PATENTED AUG. 8, 1905.

G. H. ROEDER, DEGD. o. x. nonnnn, Anxmm'rnnmxf. DEGORTIGATING MACHINE.

APPLICATION Hum In. 3, 190a. nnnwnn DEG, 17.1904.

4 3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

B W l INVENTOI? W M ITNESSES ATTORNEYS.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GUSTAV HERMANN ROEDER, OE PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA; CHRIS- TIANA K.ROEDER', ADMINISTRATRIX OF SAID GUSTAV HERMANN ROEDER, DECEASED, SAIDADMINISTRATRIX ASSIGNOR TO ERNEST F. GREEFF AND ALBERT TILT, OF NEWYORK, N. Y., AND CHARLES C. ROSSIRE, OF YONKERS, NEW YORK. I

DECORTlCATlNG-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 8, 1905.

Application filed March 3, 1903. Renewed December 17, 1904. Serial No.237,294-

DER, a citizen of the Republic of Brazil, re-

siding in Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State ofPennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inDecorticating-Machines, of which the following is a specification.

' This invention relates to a machine for decorticating the stalks ofthe rhea and similar fibrous plants.

Many attempts have heretofore been made to decorticate and prepare therhea fiber, which is used considerably in the textile industry inimitation of silk fabrics In China the fiber is obtained by handworkthroughout, and the rhea fiber in the market is mainly supplied fromChina. The principal reason why the rhea fiber has not been producedheretofore in the required quantities was because it was attempted totreat the stalks in their dry condition. From the dried stalks thefibercould not be produced in proper quality as regards flexibility andglossy appearance. 1 have found that by decorticating the stalks ingreen condition the bark and woody coverings of the fibers can beremoved with greater facility and the fiber delivered in bettercondition for the subsequent mechanical and chemical treatment to whichthe same has to be subjected. 1 This invention relates more especiallyto a machine for decorticating the rhea stalks, and comprises,essentially, an endless movable feed-belt on which the stalks areplaced, feedrolls that take up the stalks from said belt and hold thesame so as to subject them step by step to the action of arapidly-rotating beater-frame having transverse beaters until the entirestalksare fed through. Between the feed-rolls and the beaters of thebeaterframe is arranged a transverse guide-rail, by means of which thestalks are beaten,the woody parts thereof broken, and the fibers of thestalks dropped onto an endless guide-rope and conducted off for furthertreatment. In combination with the feed-rolls and their operatingmechanism is arranged a treadle-operated parts which will be fullydescribed herein-- after and finally pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a side elevation of myimproved machine for decorticating rhea fibers. Fig. 2 is a verticallongitudinal section online 2 2, Fig. 3; and Fig. 3 is a plan view of myimproved machine for decorticating rhea fibers.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

Referring to the drawings, A represents the frame of my improveddecorticating-machine, which frame is supported by upright sidestandards A. On the frame A are supported,

the journal-bearings m for driving the shaft S, to which motion istransmitted by suitable belt-and-pulley transmission, of which pulleys Ponly are shown. On the driving-shaft S is supported a rapidly-rotatingbeater-frame B,

provided with guide-pieces If", in which are arranged transverse beatersb of rectangular cross-section, as shown clearly in Fig. 2, and whichare detachable by simply loosening screws 6 and moving the beaterslaterally outward of the guide-pieces b Heretofore a large number ofbeaters were used. I have found, however, that the employment of such alarge number of beaters did not give satis-.

factory results, inasmuch as the action of the same was similar to arolling action. For this reason I arrange only a small number of beaterson the frame. I

To one end of the frame A are connected upright side walls w, which areprovided at their lower ends with brackets w for carrying theguide-rolls d of the two endless feedbelts D, which are separated by avertlcal partition 1), said partition forming with the belts D and sidewallsw independent hoppers or compartments to which the stalks are fedfromthe opposite sides of the machine by the attendants, the side wallswserving as guides for the stalks that are deposited on the feedbelts D.The endless feed-belts pass at the other side over guide-rolls d whichare driven by means of an intermediate gear a meshing With a gear a onthe shaft of the rolls (1 and with a gear n on the shaft S of the lowerfeed-roll E.

D and the rapidly-rotating frame B are-interposedtwo feed-rolls E E. Theends of the lower feed-roll E are supported in bearings m of the frameA, while the bearings of the upper feed-roll E are arranged in the upperend of the slotted bars y, through the slots of which the ends of thelower feedroll pass, which ends serve to guide the slotted bars. Thesebars extend below the frame A and are connected with a fulcrumed andweighted lever l, so that the upper roll E is pressed with adjustablepressure on the lower feed-roll E. In the front ofthe lower feedroll isarranged a stationary transverse guidebar F of triangular cross-sectionor of angular section with one side arc-shaped for supporting or guidingthe stalks as they are fed forward by the feed-rolls, so as to subjectthem step by step to the action of the beaters b for breaking up thewoody parts and covering of the stalks. The journal-bearings m aremovable on the frame of the machine and adjustable by screws m by meansof which the beater-frame may bemoved in proximity to or from theangular bar. The stalks are continuously fed over the stationarytriangular bar F and acted upon by the heaters I) of the rotatingbeater-frame. The broken-up and decorticated fibers are then droppedonto an endless traveling rope G, that is arranged at the lower part ofthe supporting-frame A, said rope being guided along grooved disks, oneof which, n, is adjustably supported on the shaft S of the lower part ofthe supporting-frame A, while the other disk is supported at somedistance from the machine, where the fibers are deposited. It has beenfound in practice that in beating the stalks the front ends of the samefall to the ground almost vertically below the angular bar. On the finalbeat of the beater-frame on the rear end of the stalks the .rear end isthrown in the direction of the front part of the machinethat is, carriedalong in the direction of the rotary movement of the beater-bar on thebeater frame. Thereby the rear end of the beaten stalks is thrown to theopposite side of the rope from where the front end fell, so as to causea straddling on the rope, whereby the fibers are conveyed off forfurther treatment.

The lower shaft S is supported in suitable bearings m at the lower partof the frame A and receives motion by means of grooved disks OZ d andbelt or rope g from an intermediate shaft S which in turn receives itsmotion from the driving-shaft S by a wormgear transmission W, as shownclearly in Fig. 3. The shaft S is connected by a ball-andsocket joint 6with a shaft S which carries at its inner end a bevel gear-wheel f andat the opposite enda second bevel gear-wheel f. A fork-shaped frame 1 isattached to the hubs of the bevel gear-wheelsf and f, as shown in F ig.1, and'is connected by a fulcrumed elbow-lever h and'connecting-rod itwith a treadle t, pivoted to the lower part of the supporting-frame A,so that by depressing the treadle the fork-shaped frame 0 with its bevelgear-wheels can be shifted from the left to the right. The bevelgear-wheels f and f mesh with a corresponding bevel gear-wheel f on theshaft S of the lower feed-roll E and impart thereby rotary motion in oneor the other direction to the feed-roll E, according as the right orleft hand bevel gear-Wheel is placed in mesh with the bevel gear-wheel fon the shaft of the feed-roll by the action of the treadle. Normally theright-hand bevel gear-wheel f is in mesh with the bevel gearwheel f sothat the lower feed -roll E is moved in the direction of the arrow shownin Fig. 2 when feeding the stalks forwardly to the rolls andbeater-frame. Whenever an obstruction is encountered, such as choking ofthe stalks, the attendant depresses the treadle 2. and shifts theleft-hand bevel gear-wheel f into mesh with the bevel gear wheel fthereby reversing the motion of the latter, so that the regularfeed-motion of the stalks is controlled and any unequal breaking up ofthe stalks by the heaters or obstruction in the regular feeding of thestalks prevented. Rotary motion is transmitted from the lower feed-rollE by intermediate gear-wheels n n and shafts held by links Z Z to theupper feedroll E, provided with gear 92*, the transmitting-shafts withlinks Z Z and gear-wheels n if, adapting themselves to the varyingpositions of the upper feed-roll in the well-known manner.

In the drawings the heaters are shown as arranged on the drum. I do notwish to limit myself to the drum as shown, as 1 distinctly described abeater-frame consisting, essentially, of two disks, to the circumferenceof which the beaters are detachably fastened.

When the machine is operated and the green stalks fed into the hopperformed by the side boards w and the feed-aprons D, the stalks are slowlymoved between the feed-rolls. As they are successively fed to thefeed-rolls the new parts are continually acted upon by therapidly-rotating beaters, so that they are bent in downward direction onthe stationary supporting-bar F, wherefrom the decorticated fibers ofthe stalks hang down until the entire stalk is beaten down anddecorticated. Finally the decorticated fibers are dropped on the endlessconveying-rope G below the feedrolls and bar F and conducted ofi' forfurther treatment.

My improved machine for decorticating rhea stalks is comparativelysimple in construction, having only four operating parts namely, thefeed-belts, feed-rolls, stationary bar, and the rotating beaters-whichare not liable to get out of order and which can readily resist theheavy wear to which they are subjected. As the beater-frame is rotatedat a speed of one hundred and eighty rotations per minute,'seven hundredand twenty blows are imparted per minute to the portion of the stalkthen on the supporting-bar, so that thereby all the woody parts of thestalks are broken up and removed and the fibers placed in condition forfinal treatment.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and d esire tosecure'by Letters Patent- 1. In a decorticating-machine, the combinationwith endless feed-aprons, of slotted bars, rotary feed-rolls, one ofwhich is journaled in the frame of the machine while the other isjournaled in the upper ends of the slotted bars guided by the shaft ofthe first roll, a fulcrumed and weighted lever connected with saidslotted bars, a stationary transverse bar in front of said feed-rolls, arotating beater-frame, and a plurality of beaters supported by the same,substantially as set forth.

2. In a decorticating-machine, the combination with endless feed-aprons,of rotary feed-rolls, a rotary beater-frame, transverse bars supportedby said beater-frame, a shaft journaled in the lower part of the frameof the machine, pulleys, one of which is adjustably mounted thereon,while the other is located some distance away from the machine, and anendless conducting belt or rope passing over said pulleys for receivingthe decorticated fibers after they have been dropped from thefeed-rolls, substantially as set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I have signed myname in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

GUSTAV HERMANN ROEDER.

Witnesses:

PAUL GoEPnL, C. P. GOEPEL.

